Specific Issue(s) I'm Skilled at Helping With

As an experienced premarital counselor, and a certified domestic violence counselor, I enjoy working with young adults, couples, through the hardships of their relationships. I support victims of abusive relationships, help them cultivate the skills they need to leave abuse behind and live successfully on their own. I'm dedicated to helping abuse survivors nurture happy and healthy relationships. I help them identify relationship warning signs, nurture assertiveness, and develop self-esteem.

As a former school counselor, I enjoy working with individuals who need guidance through the transition of finishing high school and starting college.

How Psychotherapy Can Help

Many clients report chaotic, troubled childhoods and traumatic life experiences. Together, we will find a way to not only overcome your childhood abuse, traumas, and many other challenges and obstacles but to use what you learned from them to become extremely successful in your adult life. Together, we can turn your wounds into wisdom, and empower you to have a more full-bodied and successful existence.

My View on the Purpose of Psychotherapy

I believe everyone has the right and the potential to live a fulfilled life. Every once in a while, something in our lives goes badly enough that we wish we had known at the time what we know now, so we could go back and do things differently. However, dwelling on the past is something that many people don?t like to do; they are eager to wipe the slate clean and start fresh on a path toward a brighter tomorrow. But pushing forward without a backward glance can be hazardous to our mental health.
I am not saying we should live in the past. Our entire life story, not just where we?re going but where we?ve been, deserves our curiosity and attention. Getting past an emotional injury is like getting past winter; the only way past it is through it. Imagine if you broke a bone and then, not wanting to dwell on the injury, went out and played soccer the next day. How well do you think that would go for you and your broken bone? It?s a ridiculous thing to do, yet people do it all the time with wounds that aren?t physical. Instead of constructively wallowing in the bad stuff that happens to us, we try to shake off an upset as soon as possible so we can get past it. Emotional injuries need time-outs, just as physical injuries do. We can?t process emotional wounds if we?re busy focusing on the future, trying to shove aside any thoughts about the bad stuff that happened back then.
Emotional maturity requires that we acknowledge where we?ve been by pondering the past. We?re only as old inside as the wounded child who sustained our oldest hurts: neglect, ridicule, criticism, sexual abuse, etc. If we hide our personal history from ourselves by insisting on focusing at all times on the present and/or the future, we can?t help that child heal and grow into the adult we?re meant to become. We will be stuck in life. Trauma feelings cannot be repressed or forgotten. If they are not dealt with directly, the distressing feelings and troubling events replay over and over in the course of a lifetime. Research has shown quite convincingly that early trauma is a major predictor and causal agent not only of neurotic-spectrum problems such as anxiety, depression and relationship issues, but also of physiological health outcomes.

My Role as a Therapist

As an authentic, genuine and transparent therapist, it is my responsibility to be able to provide a comfortable safe environment and establishing a warm, caring therapeutic culture, and be able to facilitate the awareness, growth and psychological development of my clients. As I help my clients make peace with their past, I will provide them my full support while they are walking and taking the steps along the path towards their goal.

My Therapy Focus

Sometimes we carry old beliefs around, unknowingly, that don?t serve us anymore. You have old beliefs and experiences that tend to push you in a certain direction or color your thoughts in a certain way ? but they are not necessarily serving you anymore. It?s good to take a step back and think about your beliefs about life. Ask yourself, Is this true? Or am I just limiting myself with these beliefs? Sometimes you have to unlearn the things that you believe to be true. You do not have to see the world the same way you have always seen it. Just because it was true in the past, does not mean it is true today, and just because you learned something one way does not mean you learned it the best way.
I will promote a non-judgemental self-awareness that enables you to develop a unique perspective on life. To raise awareness, and be able to transform your destructive unconscious emotions to a fully present existence, being able to recognize and break your old patterns that undermine your success and happiness and create new pattern by practicing new behaviors.
Do not let yesterday's beliefs dictate the story that you live out today.

On the Fence About Going to Therapy?

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Services I Provide

Coaching

Consultation

Family Therapy

Group Therapy

Home-Based Therapy

Individual Therapy & Counseling

Marriage, Couples, or Relationship Counseling

Online Counseling / Phone Therapy

Ages I Work With

Teens

Adults

Elders

Languages

English

Farsi

Client Concerns Within Your Scope of Practice

Abandonment

Abortion / Post Abortion Issues

Abuse / Abuse Survivor Issues

Academic Concerns

Addictions and Compulsions

Adjusting to Change / Life Transitions

Adoption / Reunion Issues

Aggression and Violence

Aging and Geriatric Issues

Agoraphobia

Anger

Anxiety

Attachment Issues

Bipolar

Blended Family Issues

Body Image

Breakup

Bullying

Cancer

Career Choice

Caregiver Issues / Stress

Chronic Illness / Disability

Chronic Pain

Codependency / Dependency

Communication Problems

Compulsive Spending / Shopping

Control Issues

Creative Blocks

Depression

Developmental Disorders (Autism, Aspergers, etc.)

Dissociation

Divorce / Divorce Adjustment

Domestic Violence

Eating and Food Issues

Emotional Abuse

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional Overwhelm

Emptiness

Family of Origin Issues

Family Problems

Fear

Forgiveness

Gambling Addiction

Grief, Loss, and Bereavement

Habits

Health / Illness / Medical Issues

Helplessness / Victimhood

Hoarding

Identity Issues

Inadequacy

Inattention, Impulsivity, and Hyperactivity (ADHD)

Individuation

Infidelity / Affair Recovery

Internet Addiction

Irritability

Isolation

Jealousy

Learning Difficulties

LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Issues

Life Purpose / Meaning / Inner-Guidance

Midlife Crisis / Midlife Transition

Military and Veterans Issues

Money and Financial Issues

Mood Swings / Mood Disturbance

Multicultural Concerns

Narcissism

Obsessions and Compulsions (OCD)

Oppositional and Defiant Behavior in Children and Teen

Panic

Parenting

Perfectionism

Phobias

Physical Abuse

Polyamory / Nonmonogamous Relationships

Post Partum Depression

Posttraumatic Stress / Trauma

Power

Pre-Marital Counseling

Prejudice / Discrimination

Rejection

Relationships and Marriage

Religious Issues

Schizophrenia

Self-Actualization

Self-Care

Self-Compassion

Self-Confidence

Self-Criticism

Self-Doubt

Self-Esteem

Self-Harm

Self-Love

Sensitivity to Criticism

Sexuality / Sex Therapy

Shame

Sleep Disorders

Social Anxiety / Phobia

Somatization

Spirituality

Stress

Suspiciousness / Paranoia

Trust Issues

Values Clarification

Women's Issues

Workplace Issues

Worry

Worthlessness

Young Adult Issues

Types of Therapy

Anger Management

Art Therapy

Body-Mind Psychotherapy

Breathwork

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy /REBT

Dialectical Behavioral Therapy

Existential Psychotherapy

Expressive Arts Therapy

Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing

Family Constellations

Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy

Mindfulness Based Interventions

Narrative Therapy

Object Relations

Person Centered / Rogerian

Psychodynamic

Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT)

Solution Focused Therapy

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